In the construction of buildings it is now common to use drywall or wallboard (hereinafter simply referred to as “drywall”) on the interior of the structure to finish interior walls of the structure. For a length of wall that is larger than the width of a single sheet of drywall, more than one sheet of drywall has to be used to span the length of the wall. Seams arise where two sheets of drywall are abutted against each other. Seams also arise at corners of walls where two sheets of drywall are abutted at right angles to form a corner. Much of the difficulty in using drywall is associated with the proper treatment of seams. The edges of drywall sheets are tapered so that when two drywall sections are positioned adjacent one another a “cove” or depression is formed. The cove must first be filled with mud and then drywall tape is pressed into the mud along the full length of the cove. More mud is then placed over the tape before the first sanding of the resulting joint is performed. The mudding and sanding process is often performed several times before the seams take on the appearance of a clean, integrally formed area with no visually perceptible joint areas. Thus, the treatment of seams adds to the overall cost of constructing any structure where drywall is used and increases the time needed for drywall finishing.
When forming outer corners between two drywall sections, it has previously been necessary to nail or screw a metal corner section, sometimes referred to as a corner bead, over the corner before taping and mudding the corner. The metal corner member has to be attached carefully such that it forms a straight vertical edge. If this component is not attached properly, a “wavy”, non-linear edge will be formed, requiring even further finishing efforts.
The above finishing process can be particularly troublesome for home remodeling applications undertaken by “do-it-yourself” persons. By this term, it is meant those individuals who do not have extensive experience in working with drywall finishing and have not acquired the necessary skill to finish drywall seams to produce clean, well-finished wall and corner areas free from visual imperfections.
It will be appreciated that there is a need for an apparatus and method that allows the installation of drywall to proceed more quickly and easily than the traditional approach.